The U.S. Travel Association's announcement last week that it will bring its annual international travel conference, known as IPW, to D.C. in 2017, had tourism officials and the hospitality industry alike celebrating. The conference brings at least 5,000 international travel industry providers every year, after all, and Destination D.C., the city's tourism marketing agency, estimates $350 million in future travel bookings will result from IPW.

But the conference's arrival in 2017 will be just the latest effort to attract more international visitors to the Washington region. Destination D.C.'s marketing budget for 2013 got an additional $3 million from the D.C. government; that funding has once again been included in Mayor Vincent Gray's 2014 budget.

Destination D.C. said it would use the additional funds for more marketing in emerging countries for foreign travel, as well as promotions for the nation's capital as a destination not just for leisure, but also for educational and medical purposes.

Final visitor numbers for 2012 won't be available until later this year, but IHS Global Insight estimates that 11 percent of visitors to the Washington area came from outside of the United States.

Spending by international visitors is also on the rise. Foreign tourists' spending comprised 27 percent of total visitor spending in D.C. in 2012, according to those same estimates.

Tapping emerging markets

Canadians always top the list of international visitors, along with the United Kingdom and other European countries, so Destination D.C. has been focusing its efforts on courting growth markets, including China, Brazil, India and the Middle East.

The Washington Business Journal wrote about the efforts to attract more Chinese visitors two years ago. Since then, the number of Chinese visitors increased by 91 percent from 2010 to 2011, and that growth is expected to be about the same from 2011 to 2012, according to Destination D.C. President Elliott Ferguson.

"We're looking at the increased opportunity the market provides," said Ferguson, who traveled to China for Destination D.C. in April. "Their economy being so strong, the Chinese come and spend a lot of money." Nationally, Chinese tourists ranked sixth in visitor spending in 2012, spending $9.2 billion on tourism [PDF] in the U.S., according to the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries.

On the same trip, Ferguson also visited the United Arab Emirates to mark the addition of a direct flight from Abu Dhabi to Dulles International Airport on Etihad Air, which began at the beginning of April.

"China, Brazil and India remain the three most prominent emerging markets for us," Ferguson said.

Businesses see value in tourism growth

The city's business interests are also rallying behind the international tourism promotion effort. The Federal City Council has pledged to support the city's programming efforts in conjunction with IPW, which Destination D.C. estimates will cost between $4 million and $5 million. While the conference is held by the U.S. Travel Association, host cities typically throw a wide range of events and programming in conjunction with the conference in order to promote the city as a tourism destination.

"We haven't finalized what it means, but supporting tourism is one of our major initiatives," Federal City Council CEO Anthony Williams said. "We think we want to look to marshaling private sector support to making the event a success."

The Federal City Council considers tourism a "game changer" for the city, and is working on some of its own initiatives related to tourism promotion, Williams said. He declined to talk specifics, saying the programs are not yet ready for prime time.

There haven't been any specific financial commitments yet, but Ferguson expects that private sector support for IPW would come largely from the hospitality and related sectors.

"You want to look at the major companies that benefit from visitors coming to the Washington, D.C., region," he said. That could include tourism agencies in other cities and other attractions; D.C. may want to provide an excursion to Eastern Shore beaches or Virginia wine country, for example.

"That's the reason why we're given so much time to prepare," Ferguson said of IPW. "If we were confirmed for 2014, it would be unrealistic for me to be able to raise the kind of money."